The invention relates to a method for manufacturing implant abutments for dental implants, wherein the implant abutment comprises a prefabricated base member for joining the implant abutment to the dental implant, and a customized main body.
The invention also relates to an implant abutment for a dental implant, said abutment comprising a prefabricated base member for joining the implant abutment to the dental implant, and a customized main body.
In the field of dental technology, dental implants onto which implant abutments are attached are used to replace natural teeth. An implant abutment typically comprises a base member for joining the implant abutment to the dental implant and a main body that is customized to the tooth being replaced, to the remaining teeth and/or to the specific details of the jawbone. However, the main body does not form the visible area of the implanted tooth. The main body itself is surrounded instead by a crown.
Implant abutments of this kind are conventionally manufactured by modeling, on a standard base member, a wax model that is substantially identical to the subsequent main body. A mold is produced from said wax model. The wax is then melted in a furnace to produce a negative mold of the main body. Said negative mold is then melted out with suitable material, such as gold alloys or alloys that do not contain precious metals. During this process, the prefabricated base member is melted onto the main body and thus fixedly attached thereto. An implant abutment is thereby produced that generally requires manual finishing.
This process of making implant abutments is laborious and requires much manual work, in particular. It is therefore costly.